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3 Mindful Things to Do on Your Drive

Instead of seeing the ride as waiting to get from point A to B, see it as the part of your day where you can do whatever makes you feel good, from singing your heart out to doing some mindful breathing exercises.

Using these three tips can help you bring mindfulness into your daily trips, so that you can start and end your day with some softness and play.

On your drive:

1. Use each stop to take a breath: Whether you’re driving or taking a train, there’s gonna be stops. Every stop is an opportunity to take a deep breath and soften the body, making it a greater commute with greater ease.

2. Have fun with it: We can make our commute more playful by reaching out and exploring. Is there any music you haven’t listened to in a while? Is there any new music you haven’t been exposed to yet? Is there a friend that you haven’t talked to in a long time that you can connect with? Use your travel time to connect and play.

3. Make it a compassionate experience: Turn the trip into a chance for compassion. Whether you’re in the train or you’re in the car, everyone is on a commute together. Some people are feeling agitated, some people are feeling joyful. If you’re feeling like it’s a stressful experience, you can say these three things: May I be at ease, may you be at ease, and may we all be at ease.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is hosting an online course to help people fully integrate mindfulness into their lives in a deep way in order to realize more enduring change. The in-depth 6-month online course called A Course in Mindful Living runs this September. Sign up now to join a community of people growing in confidence, calm, compassion and a life you love.

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and conducts a private practice in West Los Angeles. He is creator of the 6-month online program A Course in Mindful Living, author of Uncovering Happiness: Overcoming Depression with Mindfulness and Self-Compassion (Atria Books, 2015), The Now Effect (Atria Books, 2012), Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler (Atria Books, 2013), and co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook (New Harbinger, 2010).